Horrible Casting...

I lined up the Epic 480 with a SA Mastery WF4 and went on a late afternoon casting session. For some reason I was casting like total crap!!! The rod felt underlined with the WF4 and I couldn't get my timing down at all... Despite the ugly casting, I did manage to catch a couple of largemouth bass, a few decent sized bluegill and a good sized crappie (that brought out a can of feisty and was pulling line of the reel!!!!). I'm thinking using the DT4 on the Scott F7643 last session did something to my casting.... Sometimes you stink and there is no reason other than you stink.

Epic 686 Lawn Casting - Post Linner

We drove out to Eastport in Annapolis to eat at the Boatyard again - Marlon had asked for some of their fried chicken fingers for his birthday meal - twist my arm!!! We ate "Linner" there (Lunch and Dinner, but closer to lunchtime) - the raw oysters were marvelous as always;) Right after eating, I asked La if I could take just a few minutes to cast this rod/WF6 line. I had cast it this morning, but since I was on the street in front of our house, I was being ginger with the line. This was in front of a school that we park by everytime we go to the Boatyard. I saw it this morning while casting and I was witness to it again this afternoon - THIS ROD IS WONDERFUL!!! I can cast close in with minimal line out and 50 foot casts are not hard to push out. I can see my loops flying through the air and I can feel the load/unload cycle - very nice indeed!!! I'm not a very good caster. I still get tailing loops every so often and my form needs some work. With that said, this is another one of those rods (and line combinations) that makes me look halfway decent - I'm a believer in the Epic 686!!!

How Much Happiness Can You Get For $21.95???

Oh yes I did stoop down this low... but after casting this rod at the Fiberglass Casting Roundup a couple of weekends back, my whole perspective on what constitutes a rod that I would purchase and fish has completely changed. THIS ROD IS A BLAST TO CAST - plain and simple. I've got a Scientific Anglers Supra DT6F spooled up on the Orvis BBSIII waiting for some light wind, sunny days to slow down and cast away. Oh - did I mention this rod was $21.95??? Stay tuned for the first casts and I'll show how far $20 will go...

More Fiberglass Rod Casting Feedback

I also brought out the Barclay Glass 3wt so I could switch back and forth between it and the Lewis Performance 3/4wt. The Barclay feels like a much lighter rod in hand despite the longer length. Casting wise I felt like the 3wt WF line I was casting was a hair light - I'm going to have to switch lines to see if I can optimize it's performance. Before I cast the Lewis, this was my favorite casting rod - I am sure I'll find the sweet spot soon enough. It might also be that the beadhead killer bug I had tied on to the Lewis was heavier and worked better with that setup. I had used a micro popper and a micro gurgler on the Barclay - much lighter flies. I am going to have a blast experimenting with line/rod/leader length/fly type combinations to fine tune casting performance!